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R&D NewsVolume 14, Edition 4Highlights of 2005-06FRDC’S Directors say their 10 highlights of 2005-06 were:
MORE: Executive Director Fairness first, say fishersAUSTRALIAN fishers rate fair and consistent fisheries management as the most important aspect of their working lives, according to a FRDC-funded study designed to reveal the social fabric of the wild-harvest sector. The importance of management they can trust narrowly out-rates their ability to independently control their work. Each is seen as much more important than making a lot of money. Bureau of Rural Sciences researchers Julia Pickworth, Jacki Schirmer and Anne Maree Casey base these findings on a case study (FRDC 2003/056) made with the cooperation of licence-holders and other workers in South Australia’s Marine Scalefish Fishery (MSF), which stretches the length of the state’s coastline. They say 59 per cent of SA’s 416 licence-holders and a significantly smaller percentage of other workers completed an initial questionnaire, which was followed by 12 workshops along the coast in late 2004. In the workshops, many participants reported being uncertain and anxious about potential management changes, but showed high overall satisfaction with the tasks involved in fishing, the work environment and the time spent working to make a living. A majority was satisfied or very satisfied with:
But, as the second graph shows, there was majority dissatisfaction with government constraints on fishing, the level of support from local government and other community bodies and the income from fishing. Fishers said they had little flexibility in their businesses because management regulations prevented them targeting a broader range of species in response to changing market prices. In some cases, they said, this had limited their ability to fish sustainably, because they were compelled to repeatedly target the same species or grounds rather than shift fishing effort across a wider range of species or grounds over time. There also was a strong belief that commercial fishers were regarded negatively by the community and for some this led to a belief that they were under siege, with the community attitude contributing to their fishery and their futures being under threat, politically and otherwise. This perception was heightened by competition and other pressure from recreational fishers targeting scalefish. Some respondents said they worked in poor weather or took other risks to avoid interactions with recreational fishers. The researchers’ full report and a summary booklet Social Fabric of Australian Fishing - a case study in South Australia, are available FRDC Board has 5 new facesFIVE new Directors selected for their expertise have been appointed to the FRDC Board by the Australian Government. Ray Johnson (NSW), Paul McShane (Tas), Frank Prokop (WA), Richard A. Stevens (Qld) and Richard N. Stevens (WA) serve till August 2009. So will current Director Stuart Richey (Tas), who has been reappointed for a further term. Announcing the changes, Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz thanked retiring Directors Tor Hundloe, Simon Bennison, Ian Cartwright and Nicholas Rayns for their stewardship and their contributions to the strategic direction of fisheries R&D. The FRDC Board now comprises: Denis Byrne Chairman, reappointed for three years in July 2004. A commercial lawyer and professional director. Former managing partner of Freehill Hollingdale and Page, Brisbane. Patrick Hone Executive Director. Member of the Business Development Committee since December 2004. Stuart Richey Managing Director of Richey Fishing Co Pty Ltd. Member of the Australian Government Quarantine and Exports Advisory Council, Chairman of Seafish Tasmania and the Northern Prawn Management Advisory Committee. Ray Johnson CEO of Genetics Australia. Previously CEO of the NSW Farmers Association Paul McShane Research scientist, former Vice-President of International and Development at the Australian Maritime College, Launceston. Former senior manager in marine research agencies in Victoria, South Australia and New Zealand. Frank Prokop Executive Director of Recfishwest, Western Australia and has served on many State and Commonwealth fisheries advisory bodies. Richard A Stevens Consultant, board member and a former managing director of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and a director of the Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority. Has served previously on the FRDC Board. Richard N Stevens R&D Manager of the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council, a director of Seafood Services Australia Ltd and former chair of the Food Centre of WA. Glenn Hurry Australian Government Director who holds office at the Minister’s pleasure. General Manager, Fisheries and Aquaculture, in the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. FRDC Directors are appointed by the Australian Government Fisheries Minister following recommendations made by a selection committee in a process managed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Horvat, FRDC Communications Manager, $2.5m whale research centreTHE Australian Government is to set up a national research centre for the protection of whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals. Environment Minister Ian Campbell said the Australian Centre for Applied Marine Mammal Science would address critical gaps in understanding the conservation of Australia’s 40 species of whales and dolphins, 10 species of seals - and dugongs. It will be based at the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, Tasmania, with funding of $2.5m over four years coming from the Australian Government’s $100 million Commonwealth Environment Research Facility program. “The information it gathers will be critical for developing and implementing government policy and management decisions,” Ian Campbell said. Whales on record Meanwhile, Antarctic Division cetacean biologist Jason Gedamke has used 145 floating sonar buoys and a long term bottom-mounted listening device to record and identify the calls of sperm, fin, blue, pigmy blue and sei whales off the eastern Antarctic coast. His aim is to match the acoustic material with visual sightings as part of an exploration of the eastern Antarctic ecosystem. Speaking on ABC Radio National’s Science Show he said baleen whales were in the main solitary and produced repetitive sounds for extremely long distance communication, probably for mating. “To be heard by another animal a long, long distance away you need a relatively simple sound that’s repeated over and over,” Jason Gedamke said. In fin whales there was evidence that an extremely repetitive 20Hz call was made only by males, suggesting a reproductive motive. By contrast, sperm and other toothed whales lived in tight-knit family groups and produced sounds very different to the simple, far-ranging stereotypic calls of the baleen species. He said a surprise of his 69 day voyage had been a failure to record any sounds from minke whales, possibly because for them it was a feeding, rather than breeding, season. MORE: Marine mammal research centre, www.deh.gov.au. Jason Gedamke, phone 03 6232 3209; www.aad.gov.au. Young guns scoop awardsMARITIME researchers have scooped four 2006 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, each worth $10,000.
Tasmanian Jo-Anne Fearman won the FRDC award for her work on blue mussel reproduction, aimed at ending farmers’ dependency on juveniles from the wild, where the timing and consistency of reproduction can vary substantially from year to year because energy storage, reproductive tissue development and spawning, they are at the mercy of changeable environmental conditions. Hatchery techniques that allow year-round production of juveniles are essential, she says and a detailed understanding of environmental influences on energy storage and reproduction will provide a way to control these processes in a hatchery. “Success in this area has the potential to double or triple Tasmanian production,” Jo-Anne Fearman says. A second Tasmanian award winner, Ian Duthie, is working to develop a high-density, high-quality flow of cultured algal feed for juveniles at Spring Bay Seafoods, Tasmania’s biggest mussel producer. The system is designed to provide a continuous food supply that increases current output by about 400 per cent, with a corresponding reduction in the footprint of the production equipment. Success would dramatically improve reliability in other hatcheries culturing algal feeds, be they for oysters, mussels, clams, pearl oysters, prawns or finfish, Ian Duthie said. A simple technique to help harvesters identify prime mud crabs is the goal of Northern Territory winner Michael Phelan. He is using a durometer - an instrument that measures the hardness of materials from foams to thermoplastics - to accurately gauge shell hardness. The harder the shell, the meatier the crab and the better the price, he says. Soft-shelled specimens contain less meat because they are recovering from moulting. If the durometer proves to be a practical field tool, the economic benefits to fishers will be significant, he says “and I will gain immense personal satisfaction from having developed a practical system to optimise harvesting”. In tropical Queensland, getting the better of a tiny parasite that infests farm crocodiles is the goal of Michelle Gray, winner of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation award.The parasite, a nematode, leaves tracks in the reptilian skin that reduce its value. “I aim to better understand the origin and lifecycle of these parasites, to find methods to control or eliminate them from farmed animals,” Michelle Gray said. Her study also is expected to throw light on the effects of nematodes in wild crocodiles. The award winners will use their cash prizes to further their R&D. Nominations for 2007 awards will open early next year. MORE: Science Awards Coordinator, phone 6272 4197; His legacy a better industryBURKE HILL, crustacean ecologist, fisheries biologist, former acting chief of the CSIRO Division of Fisheries and an inaugural FRDC Director, died in September. He was highly regarded as a dedicated, visionary and effective scientist and manager, generous with his knowledge and enthusiasm for research. Director of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Ian Poiner, said Burke Hill’s contributions as a scientist, science leader and mentor - and his ability to communicate with the users of science - would be a lasting legacy. “Burke had a major impact on Australian fisheries research, policy and management,” Ian Poiner said. “He encouraged the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, FRDC and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to embrace ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, long before the concept was topical.” South African-born and educated, his early research there mainly concerned fish and crustacean ecology and behaviour in lakes and estuaries. In Australia he continued his research on prawns and crabs and developed innovative projects to study the elements and impacts of fishing. He joined the Queensland Fisheries Service as a principal fish biologist in 1978 and rose to director. In 1981, he moved to CSIRO at Cleveland, south of Brisbane, to lead research on prawn catchability, particularly in the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF). He used closed-circuit TV and time-lapse photography to monitor prawn emergence and movements and record the influence of temperature, feeding behaviour, light, tidal movements, seagrass, and prawn size. The resulting behavioural understanding contributed to an innovative management program introduced to the NPF in 1987 to reduce the impact of fishing on spawning prawns. Burke Hill was the scientific representative on the NPF Management Advisory Committee (NORMAC) from 1985 to 2000 and was a member of the Northern Fisheries Committee. His contribution to fisheries management was recognised in 1986 with an award from the Queensland Commercial Fishermen’s Organisation. Manager of Newfishing Australia, David Carter, who worked with him on NORMAC, said: “I’ll always have the utmost respect for Burke the scientist, Burke the fisheries manager, Burke the human being. “He was able to lay out the future in a non-confrontational way and devise strategies for getting research done and implementing management change which ultimately put us in a very strong position. “We always seemed to have the research in the pipeline or nearly finished just as the need arose from a community or political point of view. This was the measure of the man.” Burke Hill was a member of the FRDC Board from its inauguration in 1992 until 1997. “He was a scientist but foremost an educator, a teacher - a man who revelled in sharing knowledge, of changing what we did,” said former FRDC Executive Director Peter Dundas-Smith. “He was a man of high intelligence and he applied this intelligence in a quiet way to influence the decisions and the directions of others. His contributions to fisheries science and management have been enormous,” said current Executive Director Patrick Hone. While on the FRDC Board Burke Hill became acting chief of the CSIRO Division of Fisheries in 1996. He also served on the board of the Queensland Fisheries Management Authority. He retired from CSIRO in 1999, but returned to guide research on the effects of trawling on the Great Barrier Reef and the Gulf of Carpentaria and continued to contribute to NPF bycatch management and research planning. He is survived by his widow, Doreen, his children, Jacqui, June and Michael, and four grandchildren. MORE: Bryony Bennett, CSIRO, email Bryony.Bennett@csiro.au. Mentor guideA FREE workbook for mentors and the people they advise and guide is available from the Rural Industries Leadership Section of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. It outlines what mentoring generally entails and advises how to communicate effectively and gain the most from the mentoring relationship. The workbook may be downloaded from www.daff.gov.au/industryleadership. MORE: DAFF, phone 02 6272 5554; email industryleadership@daff.gov.au. Rec leader’s fine legacyRECREATIONAL and sport fishing leader Malcolm Ramsay died in Brisbane last month. He was 75. He had been involved with Recfish Australia since its inception in 1983 and served seven years as president, stepping down in 1996. He also served a term as President of the Game Fishing Association of Australia, which made him a life member in appreciation of his dedication to game fishing interests and objectives. Malcolm Ramsay played a leading role in establishing a national policy on recreational fishing, which has been adopted by all Australian governments; and was a driving force for Australia’s national code of practice for recreational and sport fishing. He also was at the helm of Recfish Australia when the government of the day declared Recfish Australia to be the second representative organisation of FRDC. “Ten years on, it’s clear that this was and remains one of the most important steps that occurred for RD & E for the recreational sector,” said Recfish Chief Executive Officer John Harrison. “As President of Recfish Australia Mal was admired and respected throughout the country, particularly where the peak state bodies and national parent associations were concerned. “His skill in chairing meetings and in providing clear direction was widely recognised. He was a leader and had belief in the need for a national peak body to represent the interests of recreational and sport fishing. “On a personal note Mal was my mentor and it was he who guided me when I first entered the world of fishing politics. “And he remained a source of advice and wisdom for many years. I will always remain grateful for his patience and helping hand in an area that is renowned for its complexity and challenging environment,” John Harrison said. Fishing itself was a passion and Malcolm Ramsay enjoyed catching a diverse range, from whiting to marlin. He is survived by his wife Judith, their children and grandchildren. MORE: Recfish Australia, Into the mouths of babesFood scientists from the University of Illinois and the University of Alaska are working to produce a salmon baby food in a project funded by the United States Government. Nutritionist Susan Brewer, quoted in the AlaskaReport, says it is critical to introduce children to fish early in life. “We’ve got to get it to babies when shaping food habits. Getting to them early is the key.” The researchers say the fact that more people are now familiar with salmon will help with the baby food effort. Rocklobster market infoAUSTRALIA’S rocklobster fisheries will soon be able to track international prices and volumes on a FRDC and WRLDA co-funded database. The global database will provide information on the value, quantity and price of lobsters of various genera and pack-style exported out of major producing countries and imported into major buying ones. This will allow the southern, western and tropical rocklobster fisheries to improve their marketing by developing strategies based on sound intelligence, says Tony Gibson, Chairman of the Western Rocklobster Development Association (WRLDA), peak body of the western fishery’s processing sector. “Potentially, it’s a very valuable tool,” he said. The WRLDA developed its own database for western rocklobster in 2004, concentrating on six supplying nations it regarded as competitors. To cover the bases for southern and tropical rocklobster exporters also, the database has been expanded to provide value, volume and price information for: Exporters - Australia, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Taiwan. Importers - Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, the United States, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Britain, China, Singapore and Malaysia. The database will provide market intelligence, long term trends and exchange rates. It was previewed at a meeting of the Australasian post-harvest sector in New Zealand last month and its first reports are expected to be distributed by the middle of next year. Information will be collected monthly and distributed quarterly as a series of tables. Stakeholders will also be able to request specific data. MORE: Project coordinator Alice Hurlbatt, phone 0416 257 197; email alicehurlbatt@wafic.org.au. Raise the bar on imports?SEAFOOD imports should be allowed only from jurisdictions that match Australian environmental management standards, according to one of the nation’s biggest wild-harvest operators. Otherwise, the additional costs Australian fishers accept to ensure their operations are environmentally sustainable run the risk of becoming a tax on sustainability, says Martin Exel of prawn fleet operator Newfishing Australia Pty Ltd. He says when imports come from fisheries with environmental standards that would be unacceptable here, every new environmental requirement accepted by the Australian industry makes its products less competitive. “What happens if regulation reaches a point where it’s impossible for the Australian industry to remain price competitive?” he asked. Martin Exel said the recently-introduced country of origin labelling of imported seafood was a great first step, but governments now should provide funds for consumer education when imposing new environmental requirements on the Australian industry. Surveys showed that informed consumers would pay more for seafood that met sustainability requirements. “Demand that imports be allowed only from management regimes that at least match Australian requirements,” he urged consumers. “Let’s eliminate any concept of a tax on sustainability in Australia and work to ensure that the only fish on sale are those caught in an environmentally-sustainable way.” MORE: Martin Exel, phone 08 9202 2444; email mexel@newfish.com.au. Square mesh deliversSQUARE mesh codends trialled in Queensland’s prawn and scallop trawl fisheries have significantly cut bycatch without reducing the catch rates of target species. In research trials in the saucer scallop fishery the codends, used in conjunction with turtle excluder devices (TEDs), reduced bycatch by 77 per cent, according to Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries researchers. In the deepwater eastern king prawn fishery a similar combination of square mesh codend and TED, cut bycatch by 29 per cent. In further trials in the tiger and endeavour prawn fishery square mesh codends reduced bycatch by 34 per cent, with no significant effect on catch rates of marketable-size prawns. For species such as banana prawns catch rates actually increased, as the attached The researchers say square mesh codends effectively reduce bycatch in two ways: They let small finfish that generally lack swimming speed and stamina escape easily. And undersize prawns and scallops, small crabs, sea urchins and shellfish simply fall through the big squares that, unlike diamond mesh, remain open during a trawl. Preliminary results indicate that square mesh codends may also reduce drag and thus fuel costs, possibly because less bycatch is towed and because improved water flow through the net reduces the pressure wave pushed in front of the net. Based on these results, QDPIF, Seanet and Ecofish collaborated in a FRDC-funded extension project that saw commercial operators trial 36 square mesh codends in the scallop, eastern king prawn and leader prawn fisheries. Twenty-eight per cent reported bycatch reductions greater than 20 per cent and 46 per cent of them reported reductions between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Nine out of 10 fishers said catch rates of target species had not been affected and eight out of 10 said they would continue to use square mesh. With the extension project nearing completion project staff plan to produce a DVD for fishers and net makers that shows them how to make and install the codends and outlines the benefits they can deliver to users. MORE: Denis Ballam, Seanet, phone: 07 4032 2234; Matthew Campbell, QDPIF, phone 07 3817 9591; email Matthew.Campbell@dpi.qld.gov.au; Tony Courtney, QDPIF, phone 07 3817 9582; email SA unityMOVES are underway to re-establish a single peak industry body for South Australia. The initiative comes from the two competing organisations - the SA Fishing Industry Council (SAFIC) and the Seafood Council of SA (SCSA) - and is supported by other key industry groups. MORE: Neil MacDonald, SAFIC General Manager, email neil Harvest strategy explained‘Harvest strategy’ is becoming a common term in fisheries management. The Australian Government wants a harvest strategy policy operating in Commonwealth fisheries by January. State jurisdictions are also developing harvest strategies for their key fisheries. So what is a harvest strategy? The CSIRO’s TONY SMITH explains. A HARVEST strategy? In simple terms, it’s a formal process for setting catch or effort limits, linked to the perceived status of the resource. Its three key elements are:
Fishers and researchers will be familiar with the first two - most fisheries have some process to collect information and to use it to assess the status of a resource. What has been missing in most cases is a set of rules for turning a current stock assessment into a clear management response, such as a quota, or season length, or size limit, or gear limit. This is where the harvest control rule comes in. The accompanying figure shows an example of a harvest control rule (the black line) for a stock where there is an assessment of stock size (from steps 1 and 2). If the stock is at a healthy level (green zone) the catch limits are set at a mark assessed as sustainable. If the stock falls into the amber zone, the catch levels reduce accordingly. If the stock falls into the red zone (overfished) targeted fishing is stopped. Harvest control rules can take many forms, but all are designed to keep stocks near the green target levels and away from the red danger zone. From an industry perspective, they provide much more certainty about how management will respond to changing stock assessments. It is important to note that harvest strategies are concerned with target or major by-product Additional management measures will generally be needed to address the effects of fishing on bycatch, protected species, habitats and the like. MORE: Tony Smith, Soaking prawns has meritSOAKING prawns in the blackspot inhibitor Everfresh is effective, cheaper and produces less chemical residue than the standard quick dip treatment, according to research funded by FRDC and Seafood Services Australia. A 200g sachet of Everfresh in 1000 litres of water and 500kg of ice created a 5mg/l mix that would effectively treat one tonne of prawns in a 24 hour soak at a unit cost of 1.7 cents a kg, said Principal Investigator Steve Slattery of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. This Everfresh (4-hexylresorcinol) treatment was cheaper than an equivalent dip using sodium metabisulphite. Doubling the Everfresh dosage to 10mg/l would allow 475kg of prawns to be treated in a six-hour soak at a unit cost of 3.4 cents a kg. By comparison a two-minute Everfresh dip required a 50mg/l mix created at a chemical cost of 12.8 cents per kg of prawns and reduced the batch size to 125kg. The recommended soak treatments also reduce chemical residue to a fraction of the most stringent international standards. MORE: Seafood Services Australia Ltd, phone 1300 130 321; Ollie to the rescue, via CDSEAFOOD and a sustainability message for children have been linked nationwide in a interactive game that encourages middle-school students to think about the environmental, economic and social consequences of the things they eat, drink, wear and use. The message comes on the CD Ollie’s Island, the third in a series that began with Ollie Recycles and Ollie Saves the Planet. It contains a bank of information on the seafood industry from FRDC, insights on making smoked salmon from Springs Salmon and on making crumbed fish from Austrimi Seafoods. About 45,000 copies are being distributed, with every primary and secondary school eligible for a free CD. Students are able to discover through video clips and interactive challenges that everything they eat, drink, wear and use comes from a natural resource. They are able to identify the sources of different products, discover their role in the production chain as consumers and learn how they can make a difference by reducing, reusing, recycling and making wise consumer choices. Jane Stewart, Director of Sustain Ability International, says that many adults, let alone children, find it difficult to come to grips with the concept of sustainability and are unsure how to achieve it. “We can’t achieve sustainable consumption if we don’t understand or appreciate what we are consuming. Our aim is to teach kids about the broader issues so that they can become more astute consumers. “We also showcase Australian industries that lead the world in sustainable production, but rarely get the opportunity to tell that story,” she said. “FRDC was keen to be involved. Providing good factual information on seafood is a priority and Ollie’s Island contains some really great information on our industry. This builds on the work FRDC has done with the story of seafood” said FRDC Communications Manager Peter Horvat.
MORE: Jane Stewart, phone Less red tapeTHE Victorian Government intends to simplify its food regulations across the board, from production to distribution, preparation, handling, labelling and retail sale. The aim is to cut red tape and lower compliance costs through a review by the state’s Competition and Efficiency Commission, says Treasurer John Brumby. In looking at ways to streamline the current system the commission will seek opportunities to harmonise national and state requirements. It has also been directed to recommend strategies to reduce the burden of regulation on small businesses in the food industry. MORE: http://www.vcec.vic.gov.au. Hobart’s Seafood DirectionsTHE seafood industry’s major biennial conference, Seafood Directions 2007, will be held on the Hobart waterfront, beginning on October 31. Under the theme Seafood for tomorrow - embracing change industry stakeholders will be invited to compile a national action plan to guide the industry forward. “We’ve identified a number of grass roots issues as particularly significant and have aligned the conference objectives accordingly. We want grass roots stakeholders nationwide to help devise the strategies to address them,” said Neil Stump, Chief Executive of the Tasmanian Fishing Industry Council and Chairman of Seafood Directions 2007. Objective discussions and workshops will tackle issues such as accreditation, industry sustainability and adapting to changing markets. The conference will be held in the Hotel Grand Chancellor, facing the fishing boats in Hobart’s Victoria Dock. Trade displays, demonstrations and social functions will overlap on to the forecourt of the dock. Seafood Directions began in 1999, hosted by the South Australian Seafood Council, as a FRDC-inspired forum to identify national issues, exchange ideas and learn from experts, colleagues and associated industries. MORE: Seafood Directions - Shane Fava, TFIC, phone 03 6224 2332, email sfava@tfic.com.au; Conference Design (event organiser), phone 03 6224 3773; email info@cdesign.com.au; www.seafooddirections.com. Rocklobster congress - James Fogarty, email JamesFogarty@kailis.com.au.
Lobster congress The fifth National Rocklobster Congress will be held in Cairns on Thursday and Friday, August 16 and 17, hosted by the Queensland Rock Lobster Association. The association seeks ideas for the congress program from other rocklobster fisheries. Fish and ships for HobartTHE Tasmanian fishing industry will use the next Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart to showcase its products and inform festival-goers about its activities. The festival is expected to draw up to 50,000 local, interstate and overseas visitors over four days from February 9. The fishing industry is targeting 16,000 for its Seataste component, which will run over two days - the festival weekend. “We want to promote Tasmania’s seafood and educate audiences about our sustainable and well-managed industry through a high-quality seafood experience that also will broaden the appeal of the festival,” said coordinator and Tasmanian Fishing Industry Council Director Amanda Way. Seataste will offer taste plates of fresh, local seafood at $5 and $10 alongside a food theatre and fishing industry promotions that will include live fish in tanks, children’s activities, plus fishing and cooking demonstrations. Held every second year, the wooden boat festival in 2005 displayed 450 wooden craft, ranging from present and former fishing boats to two replica Viking longboats from Denmark. MORE: Anne Kerr, Amanda Way, phone 03 6231 6407; email kanda@lobsterdirect.com.au; SRO recoverySALES of hatchery-produced Sydney rock oyster spat are expected to exceed 30 million for the 2006-07 season as the revitalised sector continues its recovery. Three years ago there was no hatchery production in New South Wales, the home of the native oyster. This year’s sales will see almost 30 per cent of total state demand met by genetically selected lines produced by the industry’s own hatcheries. “Previously we have had a major hand in spat supply, but this year it will be all industry,” said Wayne O’Connor, Senior Research Scientist at the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Port Stephens Fisheries Centre. “It’s a watershed event for industry and the Sydney Oyster Company - and FRDC has been at the heart of the development of the selected lines and ensuring they can be delivered to farmers,” he said. MORE: Wayne O’Connor, WA salutes seafood leadersA FAMILY business that has taken Shark Bay’s blue swimmer crabs from by-product to a substantial fishery has won Western Australia’s premier industry award for 2006.
Peter and Sandy Jecks, owners of the Abacus Crab Fishery, received the WA Fishing Industry Council’s Michael Kailis Award, plus three category awards: Seafood Producer, Seafood Business and Seafood Promotion. WAFIC CEO Graham Short said in less than 10 years the pair had established a fishery the whole community should take pride in. “They manage every element, from fishing to processing and marketing. They have also taken great measures to ensure sustainability - including encouraging an increase in the minimum commercial size to make it greater than the recreational size. And they’ve created new job opportunities,” he said. The judges said Peter and Sandy Jecks had pursued excellence in every aspect of their business. This ranged from building specialised crab vessels and perfecting the processing of frozen crab, to national and international marketing and promotion to both the hospitality sector and the consumer. Austral fisheries, winner of WA’s Environment Award, also received a commendation in the Michael Kailis Award for achieving Marine Stewardship Council certification for its Antarctic icefish fishery. Paul Catalano and his business Seafood Secrets at Booragoon won both the Retailer of the Year award and the R&D Award sponsored by FRDC and the WAFIC R&D Program. Judges said his consumer-ready packs had taken seafood retailing to a new level in a practical R&D-based process that might be a secret now, but not for much longer. MORE: Graham Short, WAFIC, phone 08 9492 8888. Taking R&D to parliamentFRDC and its fellow rural R&D corporations (RDCs) held more than 70 information meetings with federal parliamentarians from all sides of politics in September during a day of action designed to highlight the success of the government-industry co-investment model. It began with breakfast hosted by Sussan Ley, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, at which she launched www.ruralrdc.com.au, a website that delivers information on the 15 RDCs and In the day’s briefings parliamentarians were told that in 2004-2005 the RDCs had invested a combined $511.3m of industry contributions and government funds in rural R&D - and that The briefings were backed by The Benefits of Rural R&D, a booklet launched on the day. The day ended with a cocktail event in the Great Hall of Parliament House that showcased displays from the RDCs to demonstrate the diversity of their R&D and the influence it has on Australia’s quality food, wine and fibre. The seven finalists from the 2006 Lexus Young Chef of the Year award each prepared a dish using Australian produce. Lexus award winner Beau Vincent’s offering was sashimi tuna, with ginger beer sorbet, chili, shaved onion and coriander. MORE: Peter Horvat on
Drift farms at model stageFISH farms capable of criss-crossing the Atlantic Ocean by riding the Gulf Stream current have been model-tested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A fleet of 64,000 cubic metre Ocean Drifters could be stocked with fingerlings off the Florida coast and reach Europe nine months later with tonnes of market-ready fish, says Principal Investigator Cliff Goudy of MIT’s Center for There, they could be re-stocked with fingerlings and repeat the exercise, riding the southern Gulf Stream back to the United States. Cliff Goudy describes the Ocean Drifter as a self-propelled fish-farming system that can operate in the open ocean, surviving the most severe weather. Unlike conventional aquaculture, he said a drifting system would not be at the mercy of changes in water temperature or water quality. The cages would have a mild ability to manoeuvre, to stay at the best temperature for growth and health - and to arrive where and when they were intended to by their operator. MORE: www.mit.edu/SEAGRANT/aqua/cfer/oceandrifter/oceandrifter1. Restaurant 06 trial successFLYING the flag paid off for a handful of seafood producers who took advantage of a FRDC-sponsored stand at the Restaurant 06 trade show in Sydney that allowed them to showcase their wares to decision-makers in the restaurant and catering industry. Participation at the August trade show was designed to build industry compacity and put food and beverage exhibitors face-to-face with the people who make the buying decisions in Australia’s leading independent restaurants, restaurant chains, hotel groups and contract caterers. Over two days about 3,500 people attended, more than 25 per cent of them chefs or restaurant owners. “Many were astounded at the quality of the seafood they saw and sampled. They wanted to know where they could get it and why they’d been unaware of it before,” said FRDC Communications Manager Peter Horvat. As part of the Corporation’s sponsorship, seafood also was showcased at four of the eleven culinary theatre presentations seen by several hundred participants. Peter Horvat said as a trial, FRDC had organised a seafood presence from three states - South Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales - plus the assistance of leading chefs. “In light of the response from the hospitality professionals we have already booked in for Restaurant 07. “More broadly we are looking at putting together a larger industry development plan to help industry participate in this style of trade show both here and overseas,” he said. “Seafood producers interested in attending an event or finding out more about the opportunities next year should contact me.” The industry participants at Restaurant 06 were: Grant Barker SA, blue crabs Paul Watson SA, Spencer Gulf prawns Andrew Puglisi SA, Spencer Gulf prawns Mark Jarvis SA, oysters Dianne Jarvis SA, oysters Tracy Hill SA, Lakes and Coorong finfish Matthew Muggleton Southern Rocklobster Ltd Rodney Treloggen Tas, rocklobster John Susman NSW, finfish MORE: Peter Horvat, phone Drift farms at model stageFISH farms capable of criss-crossing the Atlantic Ocean by riding the Gulf Stream current have been model-tested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A fleet of 64,000 cubic metre Ocean Drifters could be stocked with fingerlings off the Florida coast and reach Europe nine months later with tonnes of market-ready fish, says Principal Investigator Cliff Goudy of MIT’s Center for There, they could be re-stocked with fingerlings and repeat the exercise, riding the southern Gulf Stream back to the United States. Cliff Goudy describes the Ocean Drifter as a self-propelled fish-farming system that can operate in the open ocean, surviving the most severe weather. Unlike conventional aquaculture, he said a drifting system would not be at the mercy of changes in water temperature or water quality. The cages would have a mild ability to manoeuvre, to stay at the best temperature for growth and health - and to arrive where and when they were intended to by their operator. MORE: www.mit.edu/SEAGRANT/aqua/cfer/oceandrifter/oceandrifter1. Alternative Fuels – the Real StoryDavid Sterling & Laurie Goldsworthy FUNDAMENTALLY the problem facing the commercial fishing industry is the unaffordable cost of procuring the energy required to carry out fishing activities. To date, energy fuelling the fishing industry has predominately come from petro-diesel. So dependent is the fishing industry on the practical nature and low cost of diesel-powered systems that a viable alternative would require a substantial transformation of the industry in terms of infrastructure, worker skills and work practices. The convenience of diesel, as an energy source, is due to it having a high volumetric energy density and being a liquid that is safe to handle, easy to distribute and store. Supporting technologies allow diesel to be applied to fishing for propulsion, electricity generation and heating with relatively high efficiency. The problem of high fuel cost (see Figure 1) is partly one of dwindling supply, accentuated by rapidly expanding global demand. Curbing the expanding demand and indeed reducing requirements within the fishing industry is part of the solution and this will occur naturally in response to the higher price. Avenues for this broadly include using alternative sources of energy, developing fishing operations that inherently require less energy and improving the energy efficiency of devices used in fishing. Alternative fuels Alternative fuels to petro-diesel include biodiesel, marine gas oil (MGO), liquid petroleum gas (LPG), liquid natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), ethanol and hydrogen. The right choice of fuel may reduce fuel costs and improve business viability. A further aim would be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which could have a bearing on the net cost of converting to an alternative fuel, considering government grants and rebates that might be applicable. MGO MGO, or Distillate DMA, is a heavier fuel than diesel and is approximately 75% of the price. It is widely available and normally used in much larger, slow revving engines because of its lower cetane number. It could be that the use of ignition enhancing additives and fuel heating to lower viscosity will allow the use of MGO in high-speed fishing vessel engines. This fuel however, has higher sulphur content and there are no greenhouse gas advantages. Natural Gas Natural gas is another interesting option for reduced fuel costs and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to lower carbon to hydrogen ratio than diesel fuel. Australia has significant reserves and a wide reaching pipeline network of low pressure natural gas. It can be stored as a liquid (LNG) or in compressed form (CNG), although such storage and associated refuelling facilities are not widely available. The cost of converting low pressure natural gas to CNG and LNG is significant, particularly LNG, and onboard storage tanks for the fuels are far from straight forward. For CNG the storage pressure is usually 200 bar, which is more than 10 times higher than the working pressure of typical pressure vessels manufactured from steel for other applications. However, CNG storage at 200 bar is a well established technology which is regularly applied worldwide. The price of natural gas is not tied to the price of oil because they currently supply independent energy markets - this might not be a relevant factor in the pricing of natural gas products that are specifically supplied to replace crude oil based fuels. Biofuels Biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol can potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions because much of the carbon released as CO2 in the exhaust has been captured from the atmosphere by photosynthesis in the growing of the feedstock for the fuel. The net reduction in carbon emissions relative to the use of a fossil fuel depends on the energy consumed (and thus carbon released) in the production of the biofuel. Biofuels offer a sustainable source of fuel produced in Australia. Currently processes are under development for the production of ethanol and good quality diesel fuel (synthetic diesel/Fischer Tropsch diesel) from plant fibre (biomass) such as wood waste and agricultural waste, reducing reliance on higher quality crops such as sugar, grain and vegetable oil (eg. canola) for ethanol or biodiesel. This is an important issue as the amount of land it takes to grow even a small amount of biofuel is quite staggering and vegetable oil will become far too precious and expensive a commodity to be burned as transportation fuel. Biodiesel Biodiesel can be used in unmodified diesel engines, subject to issues of engine durability and degradation in storage. At present there is little price advantage to off- road users because it is excise free. LPG Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the generic name for mixtures of hydrocarbons (mainly propane and butane). When these mixtures are lightly compressed and cooled they change from a gaseous state to a liquid. This is a considerable advantage for the utilisation of LPG because the liquid fuel, having an acceptably similar volumetric energy-density to diesel (23.6 MJ/litre vs 36.3 MJ/litre), can be comfortably stored at ambient temperature in conventional pressure vessels. LPG occurs naturally in crude oil and natural gas production fields and is also produced in the oil refining process. LPG only offers limited price advantage to off-road users because it is currently excise free. It does however, have lower greenhouse gas. Hydrogen Hydrogen is a clean fuel that can be produced from fossil fuels, biomass or electricity. The potential for reduced greenhouse gas emissions depends on the production method. Production from fossil fuels could involve capture and sequestration of the fossil carbon. Cost of production, storage and utilisation on-board are relatively high at present. It can be stored as a liquid, or in compressed form (700 bar) or with the use of metal hydrides. HCNG Hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) is easier to handle and utilise than hydrogen and yields greater greenhouse gas reductions than natural gas, due to the lower carbon to hydrogen ratio. The engines used in fishing boats are classed as heavy duty, whereby they are required to operate under loaded condition for long periods. Automotive engines are generally classified as light duty. Fuel options for light duty diesels, such as the use of unmodified vegetable oils, may not be applicable to heavy duty engines. Also, in the marine context, engine reliability has significant safety implications, so fuel/engine strategies must carry a low risk of failure. Obviously, for all fuels, the environmental impacts of production as well as usage need to be fully accounted for. The key to fuel security lies in the adoption of a diversity of approaches. Cost savings from alternative fuels depend on government excise policies and market forces. Current Government policy is:
Fishing vessel operators have exemption from diesel excise and GST. Reducing Fuel Costs Fuel/engine options offering potential for reduced fuel costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions for fishing vessels are: Engine retrofit/modification:
1. substantial modifications to fuel storage systems (cost, volume, weight, safety) 2. up to 20% greenhouse gas reduction (C/H ratio of fuel), more for HCNG and hydrogen 3. dual fuel by mixing gas with intake air - continuous mix or timed port injection 4. potentially increased power due to extra fuel flow into engine 5. can revert to full diesel immediately 6. lower substitution rates with LPG- more prone to knock 7. high substitution rates require modifications to diesel injection system 8. can use biodiesel as diesel component 9. Clean Air Power have successfully converted a number of Caterpillar diesel engines to LNG dual fuel
Engine replacement:
The cost of engine conversion and fuel tanks are a significant consideration. The Australian Government has been funding 50% of truck and bus engine conversion costs for conversion to natural gas or LPG, where a greenhouse gas emissions reduction can be demonstrated. This is Part 2 of an ongoing series on fuel costs in the fishing industry. Many Thanks to David Sterling for allowing us to use extracts from his and Laurie Goldsworthy’s report for FRDC in this article. AFRDC Co-management InitiativesTHE FRDC Board has invested in an initiative to improve the implementation of co-management in Australian fisheries. Peter Neville, former director of fisheries for Queensland, has agreed to lead this initiative. A working group has been established compromising of Peter Franklin (Commonwealth Fisheries Association), John Harrison (Recfish Australia), Tor Hundloe (consultant economist), Steve Gill (Executive Officer Western Rock Lobster Council), Ted Loveday (Executive Director Seafood Services Australia), Will Zacharin (SA Director of Fisheries), Patrick Hone and Crispian Ashby (FRDC). Shane Hansford from QDPIF is providing executive support. The working group has established a draft working definition for co-management, “An arrangement where responsibility and obligations for sustainable fisheries resource management are negotiated, shared and delegated between government, industry and other stakeholders”. The key operational words in the definition are “negotiated, shared and delegated”. To achieve this, industry and government need a trusted and effective working relationship. Industry also need to be able to demonstrate a willingness to work together. The working group is developing a guide for government and industry that describes what is co-management, what are the legal and institutional requirements that are required to implement it, and what are the benefits for all parties. Co-management is part of a continuum of possible management relationships between government, industry and other stakeholders. The co—management relationship increases as you move along the continuum from:
This continuum is not mutually exclusive, and different elements can be complementary. The working group are establishing what are the pre-requisites required to develop more effective co-management arrangements in Australian fisheries. This will be assisted by a project being undertaken by Dr Daryl McPhee on “Development of co-management arrangements for Queensland fisheries - stage 1 picking the winners” (2006/026). This initiative will be complemented by the AFMA funded project undertaken by Sevally Sen on co-management arrangements in Commonwealth fisheries. Gems shine in dull demandCHINA and the United States are the growth markets for high-volume aquaculture products, according to market specialist Howard Johnson of H M Johnson and Associates. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization predicted that aquaculture would contribute 49 per cent of global seafood supply by 2015 and the International Food Policy Research Institute estimated the world would need a further 38 million tonnes annually by 2020, he told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. China’s needs At current rates China would need another one million tonnes of seafood a year to 2020 and imports would be essential to satisfy this demand. “Imports won’t be carp or other generics they grow themselves. Demand will grow for upscale products,” he said. China’s market potential was further strengthened by its policy of zero growth in its coastal wild harvest fisheries and its impending membership of the World Trade Organisation required it to remove tariffs next year. Increasingly affluent urban centres would be the growth markets, Howard Johnson said, pointing out that by 2001, in contrast to their rural cousins, urban Chinese had 82 fridges per 100 households ‘and they need something to put in them’. US wants more About 80 per cent of United States’ seafood is imported and annual per capita consumption is rising, reaching 7.5kg by 2004. The US now was an aquaculture-driven growth market, Howard Johnson said, with shrimp and salmon together accounting for 38 per cent of consumption. Demand for tilapia was growing because ‘it’s skinless, boneless and tasteless’. “That’s what the US market wants - they can make it taste as desired,” he said. Howard Johnson said the US would need to import at least another one million tonnes of seafood a year by 2020 and possibly 3.6 million tonnes. “Value products will include salmon and shrimp. Eco-labels and convenience packaging are growing. Organic food demand is growing at double digits and organic will be a major seafood segment by 2020, with an estimated price premium of 20 per cent.” For Australian producers now, he said the best US targets for premium prices were upmarket restaurants. “Even if the US economy stalls their price will hold. But the commodity business is a race to the bottom.” Japan shrinks Japan is a shrinking market, with flat population growth and changing consumption patterns among younger generations that have discovered American fast food. “If Japan is your only export market you should be looking to diversify into alternative ones,” Howard Johnson advised. Europe’s niche The European Union (EU) is a mature market too, with growth flattening in step with population trends. But there could be opportunities for farmed white fish to meet growing shortfalls in European wild harvest fisheries, he said. As well, a strong niche was developing for seafood carrying third party-certified eco-labels and for organics. Beyond the EU, Russia held promise as its economy strengthened and demand grew. MORE: Howard Johnson, These guys really clean upBECHE-DE-MER appear to be excellent tenants on mussel farms because they digest the organic bottom sediment, according to a study by Auckland University. Initial lab trials showed they significantly reduced total organic carbon from mussel farm sediment and made slower inroads into chlorophyll A and phaeopigment too, researcher Guy Carton told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. Stocked under a commercial green mussel farm at five times their natural densities they showed excellent growth and 95 per cent survival. Fencing was unnecessary. They didn’t wander because the farm floor was a preferred habitat - and the market prospects were good, he said. Dried and smoked beche-de-mer is a delicacy in south-east Asia and is also used in medicines. The ABC of up-marketingIN a commodity market, price is paramount. In a niche market, it’s one of several factors in the buying decision - along with product appearance, taste, packaging and the seller-buyer relationship, says Sam Gordon of the consultancy Beyond Harvest. Local niche markets were worth chasing and those overseas could be big by Australian standards, he told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. For both, he said, the preliminaries were to:
Niche markets, he said, did not tolerate quality variation and, within Australia, producers still had to be globally competitive. “Markets keep changing. Don’t stand still. And back your motherhood statements with certification,” he said. Driving your brand Researching your market is more than a matter of asking the right questions - you have to word the right questions the right way, said Rachel Kennedy of the University of South Australia’s Institute of Marketing Science. She said fundamental market knowledge should underpin market research, providing benchmarks for fundamental brand understanding, such as:
A SA University market research project for the Tasmanian Salmonid Growers’ Association had shown producers should:
In consumer surveys, Rachel Kennedy said, attitudes expressed did not predict buying intention, but past behaviour correlated with future behaviour. MORE: Beyond Harvest. Accentuating the positiveMAKE sure the public understands the multiple benefits of eating seafood, nutritionist Rosemary Stanton urged Australasian aquaculturists. “But the consumer doesn’t need 15 reasons. Three will do.” Seafood was the saviour now because saturated fat and consequent obesity were the problem, she said. “It’s the best source of long-chain omega-3. It’s also a solution to Australia’s growing iodine deficiency. Two meals a week fixes iodine. It delivers iron too. And it’s a good source of selenium. “So you can’t go wrong if you push this multiple-benefit message properly. “But don’t jump the gun on health claims. Wait till the evidence is in and accepted. “Make sure aquaculture products contain the same amount of omega-3 as their wild equivalents. “Make sure aquaculture feed is GM-free. Consumers are critical of what you feed your fish. “Criticise functional foods - the ones that contain omega-3 as an additive.” Rosemary Stanton said seafood had been criticised - wrongly - for contributing to a cholesterol problem. “Seafood contains cholesterol and we need some. Too much clogs arteries to the heart - and to the penis. “But you don’t get that from eating prawns. The problem comes from saturated and transgenic fats. “I hope aquaculture grows to enable us to have adequate supplies of what is a very good food.” Support for aquacultureTHE Australian Government says it will work with the states, the northern territory and the seafood industry to maximise aquaculture’s potential for sustainable growth. Australian Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said the government would do this within a best practice framework that also would ensure the environment was protected and that benefits were created for rural-coastal communities. Opening Australasian Aquaculture 2006 in Adelaide, he said FRDC had predicted annual average seafood consumption would rise to 17kg per person by 2020 and ‘we mean to meet the demand’. He said country of origin labelling laws introduced this year would benefit the local industry and the government would continue to fund a national phone hotline that allowed shoppers to register concerns about mis-labelling. Hotline records were building a picture of compliance and government, like industry, wanted consumers to buy seafood with confidence. Eric Abetz encouraged the aquaculture sector to collaborate with its counterparts in Asia and the Pacific on innovation and development. “If two of us exchange a dollar, we each walk away with a dollar. If two of us exchange an idea, we each walk away with two ideas,” he said. South Australian Fisheries Minister Rory McEwen called for a more considered approach to implementing change. Often, he said, there was a tendency to move too fast, without assessing the complexity of change and its effect on third parties. He suggested aquaculture should take a three-stage approach:
His government was pro-aquaculture, he said; and governments needed to work with industry to grow wealth, particularly when it regenerated rural communities. Macho cookeryPROBLEM: Women don’t like to touch it. Many don’t know how to cook it. “I’m asked ‘how would you cook that’ so often in supermarkets,” nutritionist Rosemary Stanton said. Her advice to industry:
And her advice to women: Push men to cook it. Tell them it’s macho. “Only 30 per cent (of men) have anything to do with evening meal preparation,” she told her male-dominated audience. SIFTS’ harbour showroomWESTERN Australia’s Challenger TAFE is to moor a floating aquaculture farm off its doorstep in Fremantle harbour to demonstrate the benefits of its latest semi-intensive floating tank system - SIFTS. With most of the required approvals now in place the farm is expected to be operating by the end of this year in collaboration with a new company, the AquaNova Group. SIFTS is a radical concept for inland saline, freshwater and marine aquaculture that promises benefits in each environment, largely through its ability to oxygenate the water and remove nutrients from solid wastes. At Fremantle, six low-profile SIFTS modules, each eight metres in diameter and holding 55 cubic metres of water, will grow yellowtail kingfish, mulloway and ocean trout. Their design has been refined in FRDC project 2005/213 by Challenger TAFE and major investor McRobert Aquaculture Systems.
With a production potential of 50t a year the exercise would demonstrate their ability to grow a range of species in shallow water unsuitable for sea cages, Challenger’s Gavin Partridge told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. He said inland or off the coast, SIFTS’ other advantages were:
The team is also working with a United States manufacturer to increase the efficiency of the SIFTS’ air blower by a further 35 per cent. Gavin Partridge said the system could increase dissolved oxygen from 20 per cent to saturation in a single pass. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Gavin Partridge, Private money is availableMORE private finance is now available for aquaculture development, two investment specialists told Australasian Aquaculture 2006, but the process of securing it is not everyone’s cup of tea. “The funding process is invasive. You won’t like it. And if you find it unacceptable you should go, because the capital providers are my clients,” said David Mackey of Sydney-based Cartesian Capital. “But if it works we’ll be together for 10 years and you’ll love us.” The cost of private finance, he said, ranged from:
Private investors, he said, liked to believe in something - “your passion for your project is very important”. Choosing allies was important too. “Be careful. Make sure you like them and that each has a good track record and an ability to understand what you’re doing. And keep up the communication.” Though unpalatable, he said the stringency of the private funding process could make a venture a better business. David Mackey advised developers seeking finance:
Jim Blackburn of Melbourne investment, research and broking house Lonsec said his company had helped finance $55m worth of aquaculture projects in the past year. Private investors, he said, were prepared to finance most business components, including commercial R&D. “A high level of transparency is required and we need to know who really drives the business, because they’re the ones we’ll connect with our investors.” Proposers needed a marketing plan and an understanding of supply chains and where their operation was located in the chain. A private investment did not need to cover all the assets necessary to get a product to market, he said. Agreements were possible for components such as contract-managing an operation, or buying and marketing its fish. SBT trade barriers goTECHNICAL barriers to Australia’s southern bluefin tuna trade with The South Australian Research and Development Institute scientist said five years’ work on reportable residue levels had resulted in a harmonisation of sampling methods with Japanese ministries, recognition of the methodology by the European Union and access to the China market. Japanese consumers now were highly confident that Australian farmed SBT was safe. He said the Australian work had benchmarked residue levels in baitfish delivered to farms and residues in each major cut of tuna portioned in the Japanese fashion, which returned significant variations determined by the fat content of each. Looking to market diversification, he said the emerging markets of Korea, the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates each had different standards and exporters needed to understand them and provide proof of compliance. A marketing guide was being prepared with the help of Seafood Services Australia, but improvements to the SBT laboratory were needed to deliver the information industry needed. Fish flyA SOUTH AUSTRALIAN company attempting to be the first to breed southern bluefin tuna has transferred potential broodstock ashore - by helicopter. Clean Seas Tuna Limited flew the tuna individually from offshore holding nets to its onshore breeding facilities at Arno Bay, where light and water temperature will be manipulated in an attempt to convince the fish they are swimming to the SBT spawning grounds south of Java. It aims to spawn the fish by February and begin commercial growout by 2010. MORE: Frank Knight, Clean Seas Tuna Limited phone 08 8683 4196. It’s a luxury, so grade itHOW can an oyster industry that promotes its product as a consumer luxury survive without a grading system? George Pitt, General Manager of distributor and marketer Tasea Enterprises Ltd, put the question to fellow-producers at Australasian Aquaculture 2006. Resounding silence was the answer. George Pitt outlined the proprietary system Tasea uses to sort oysters from more than 40 supplying farms into three quality grades, by applying consistent standards to variables such as meat to shell ratio, shell fullness and meat condition - across a range of market sizes. Offering three quality grades in each size, he said, met the varying product requirements of Tasea customers. “There’s no point delivering top grade to a customer who doesn’t need it or want to pay for it.” The Tasea solution provided product and market differentiation and a range of prices linked to grades - but as yet, he said, without a price premium. “But it does give you market share and the Tasea price holds in Sydney when others fall,” said session chair Nick Ruello. “Oysters are a luxury item to the consumer,” said George Pitt. “Yet from farm to wholesale they are treated as a commodity - the industry is characterised by inconsistent quality and size - and oysters are used by wholesalers as a loss leader. “Why is industry letting this happen?” MORE: George Pitt, Kiwis voting with their feetNEW ZEALANDERS are making significant aquaculture investments in Australia because of a hostile attitude towards the industry from their own regulators, says a NZ seafood leader. “In South Australia my involvement with environmental agencies suggests they will help developers find a way if a proposal is worthy. “This is much more intelligent than the NZ assumption of wickedness and objection to others making money,” said founding chairman of the Sealord Group and the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, Tipene O’Regan, who is now a director of Port Lincoln-based Clean Seas Tuna Ltd. “We can’t survive commercially unless regulators help make it happen - if it should,” he told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. “Aquaculture development is too tough, particularly for finfish, unless regulators cooperate rather than becoming the principal cost centre. When you capitalise the cost of getting there despite them, it’s not attractive to prudent investors.” He said the situation was worsened by environmental lobbies, ‘a broad church that focuses as a church’, with the result that seafood producers had gone from being community benefactors to community offenders in a single generation. “The assumption is that whatever you are doing to produce food is destructive.” Aquaculture - the practice of avoiding going to sea by raising fish in ponds - was one of the most ancient of human preoccupations, but ‘we’re still not terribly good at it’. “I’ve learned that, technically, you can do just about anything, but it’s not necessarily wise that you should. The coasts of Australia and New Zealand are littered with relics of aquaculture ventures that confirm this,” Tipene O’Regan said. “And its not the poor who will be saved by Coffin Bay or Clean Seas. We’re not the solution to world hunger. To succeed, aquaculture in Australia and New Zealand must sell at the top end of the top markets.” He said ‘some signs of rationality returning’ were now evident in NZ. But unless new proposals were dealt with on their merits by governments and their regulators, aquaculture should be left where it belonged, ‘with the ancients’. Benefits from trip-dip mix?A CSIRO study suggests a mix of triploid and diploid stock would allow abalone farmers to maximise meat recovery through staggered harvesting. Researcher Nick Elliot said CSIRO’s first commercial-scale creation of greenlip triploids, using chemical shock, resulted in 25 per cent triploid survival to growout. Diploids from the experiment grew faster than the triploids for the first year, but the triploids, unable to reproduce, overtook them at maturation and spawning, returning lower shell weight, a better meat to shell ratio and better meat quality. This suggested staggered harvesting of diploids and triploids would improve farm production, he said, with triploids’ inability to spawn also offering the potential for farms to be established in high-risk environments. Selective is my oyster“IN 15 years I believe the oyster industry will be based 100 per cent on selective stock,” Scott Parkinson told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. As Manager of Australian Seafood Industries (ASI), a company owned by the oyster industry associations of Tasmania and South Australia, he has sold 21 million of ASI’s thoroughbred Pacific seed oysters to growers in those two states and New South Wales in the past year - about 12 per cent of national spat sales. This year, two ASI breeding lines had sold out by August, continuing a trend that saw sales of selective seed rise despite a wider decline. Five years after start-up, a review of ASI’s operations through FRDC project 2005/227 determined that future priorities should be triploid development and an enhancement of the company’s original breeding objectives. Now, through FRDC project 2006/227, the goal is to double the rate of genetic gains that deliver better survival, shape and growth. A technical advisory board is being established and Scott Parkinson has set his sights on reaching financial break-even by selling 70 million seed a year - about 35 per cent of the market. It’s pedal to the metal nowTHERE will be more aquaculture development in the next 10 years than there has been in the past 20, Viggo Halseth told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. The Norway-based Managing Director of Trout and Marine Species for feed supplier and conference sponsor Skretting said the international trend was for consolidation and integration. Salmon aquaculture was setting the pace with the world’s three biggest growers, Pan Fish, Marine Harvest and Fjord Seafood, about to merge into a 400,000t per year company. “Why? Not for production efficiencies of scale. There aren’t any,” he said. But an integrated value chain from hatchery to sales and marketing would deliver quality control and supply security. And volume growth would create market power. “Retailers also have consolidated and our industry needs equivalent placement power on their shelves,” he said. He said growers of other species were merging too, but on a smaller scale. As a result the barrier to entry by new companies would become much higher. Big companies would move to new jurisdictions and grow new species there with better farm financing. Farming would be more visible. “NGOs and the community will focus more on a single 100,000t producer than on fifty 2000t ones owned by individual families,” he said. Rising per capita income in the developing world was making fish a more popular protein source and a single global market was evolving for each major aquaculture species. Prices would improve - if production was managed - but not by the 10 to 15 per cent anticipated by some producers. “Good annual growth in the food industry is four to five per cent. I don’t think anyone relying on 10 to 15 per cent will be in business for long.” MORE: Viggo Halseth, Helping handFARMERS in the inland Indian state of Haryama are now able to grow giant freshwater prawns - macrobrachium - in ponds, following a little help from Australia. Stewart Fielder of the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries told Australasian Aquaculture 2006 that farming the prawns had been made possible by devising simple, cost-effective ways of correcting a deficit of potassium and an excess of magnesium in Haryama’s saline groundwater, while bringing its calcium ratio into line with that of seawater. This done, a pilot-scale hatchery experiment achieved 37.5 per cent survival, paving the way for local production of seed stock in the land-locked state, whose farmers had been unable to afford the prices charged by faraway coastal hatcheries. In the wild, the giant prawns spend most of their lives in fresh water, but move to salt water to spawn. Stewart Fielder said saline groundwater had caused massive agricultural problems in Haryama and with 20 per cent of the land now salt-affected its farmers needed an alternative income source. Going native pays dividendsAUSTRALIAN shellfish farmers interested in diversification and premium prices should look to clams and other native species, says New South Wales grower David Maidment. At Narooma, south of Batemans Bay, he is one of a dozen Sydney rock oyster farmers who have diversified to produce Ostrea angasi, the flat oyster native to the five southern states. In 2000 they established field nurseries for hatchery spat supplied by NSW Fisheries and now sell 50,000 dozen native oysters annually in three grades at $8 to $10 a dozen, farm gate. “There’s demand in Asia, but at this stage our market is domestic and includes direct sales to restaurants,” he told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. “We’re getting a price premium of 30 per cent to 40 per cent over Sydney rock and Pacifics, plus the environmental benefit of growing a native species.” He said Narooma’s group approach to development had worked well and was something fishery managers and researchers should encourage as a better alternative to developing products themselves to hand down to industry. “Clams and other natives should be pursued too,” said David Maidment. “We have the expertise and there will be a market.” Young lobsters a bit pickyLAB studies of southern, western and tropical rocklobster indicate that each species has its own dietary and other preferences in tank and cage culture. The CSIRO’s Kevin Williams said experiments with tropical rocklobsters showed blue and green mussels were not suitable as a post-puerulus sole diet. Rocklobster growth slowed and deaths increased after a few weeks. However tropical specimens grew well on high-performance pellets containing 36 per cent fishmeal, 30 per cent krill meal, 14 per cent wheat and five other ingredients. This diet, he said, cost about $2.20 a kg before a recent jump in fishmeal prices and, for commercial production of fish worth $45 a kg, he believed the feed cost needed to be reduced to less than $2 a kg. NZ - mussels rule In New Zealand, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has successfully grown young southern rocklobsters in vertical cages on green mussel farms, feeding them mussels only - by tube. NIWA’s Phil James said they grew well, with 96 per cent-plus survival after eight months; and were strongly coloured. “Some we didn’t tube feed at all. Of these, 63 per cent survived, but they were smaller. So all groups obviously were getting algal feed - bio-fouling - off the cage surfaces,” he said. A gelatinous dry pellet proved inferior to the mussel diet for these southern rocklobsters, but Phil James said its performance would improve if delivered at more frequent intervals. He said the mussels were more nutritious because they remained longer in the lobster gut, whereas pellet food was excreted relatively quickly. WA - each way Western Australia’s Department of Fisheries has accelerated the winter growth of western pueruli collected from the wild by heating the tank water - and feeding a mixed diet. “Feeding frequency didn’t matter,” said Roy Melville-Smith, “but the tropical rocklobster diet had to be replaced with mussels two days a week.” He reported 40 per cent post-pueruli survival in water heated to 23°C and 35 per cent survival at ambient winter temperatures.The tanked western rocklobsters reached WA’s minimum legal size in 2.5 years, compared to three to four years in the wild. Stocking density was important and more species-specific dietary work was needed, he said. Shelter also improved survival. Oyster mesh folded several times to create crevices out-performed hides made of construction bricks. Qld awash with opportunityTHE energy-producing coal seam gas hitting the business page headlines comes with a potential aquaculture asset, says Michael Burke of Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. “Big volumes of water, usually saline, lie on top of the gas, trapping it under pressure,” he told Australasian Aquaculture 2006. “Release is like tapping a keg.” The combination of gas - methane - and water is said to be widely available in the coal deposits of Queensland and New South Wales. In Queensland’s Surat-Condamine district alone the QDPIF estimates at least 20,000 megalitres of water a year will be available for the next five decades. Currently, because the water is officially classified as hazardous, it’s wasted. Gas drillers discharge it into massive dams to evaporate. But Queensland’s inland aquaculture options go beyond coal seam water. Michael Burke says the state also has an annual sustainable yield of 2,500 gigalitres of groundwater, about half of it saline enough to grow marine species. And on the Darling Downs there is another potential aquaculture resource - 10,000 hectares of dams containing fresh water for cotton production.The QDPIF is growing Murray cod, barramundi, mulloway and cobia in a demonstration site at Kogan, near Dalby, to showcase the potential of available saline and fresh water. “‘Multiple water use’ and ‘greater water efficiency’ are buzzwords now in Queensland,” Michael Burke said. He said the state’s inland aquaculture potential was a diversification opportunity for energetic, well-resourced industry partners that promised enterprise security and triple bottom-line advantages. Kiwis are muscled offshoreNEW ZEALAND’S biggest aquaculture sector - green mussels - is reluctantly looking at unsheltered water offshore because the government won’t let it expand close to the coast, according to the President of the NZ Marine Farming Association. Rob Pooley told Australasian Aquaculture 2006 the sector’s annual production had plateaued at 100,000t gross weight, worth $NZ160m in exports and $NZ40m in domestic sales. “We could expand 10-fold given the opportunity, but there’s no proper assessment of aquaculture’s potential to contribute to the national economy.” As a result, he said, the nation’s first offshore trial farm had been established, sub-surface, off Napier on the east coast of the North Island and so far had survived two storms with swells of eight to 10 metres. “The (government’s access) rationale’s not too sound - it’s ‘if we can’t see or hear you it’s probably OK’. “But in the open water we’ve found ourselves head-to-head with wild fisheries that don’t think we should be there and New Zealand law is incapable of dealing with this issue rationally.” The trial farm, he said, had also become a fish aggregating device and, as such, was attracting fishers who left hooks and even an anchor snagged in the infrastructure. With the first harvest imminent, the possibility of a hook passing through processing undetected had become a concern. Offshore establishment and maintenance costs were extremely high, with dive teams required for all underwater work. On the bright side biofouling had been light and the first crop had grown to 110mm in 18 months, prior to the spring-summer conditioning season. “Technically it’s a success. So we’ll continue the trial and try to get costs down,” he said. Rob Pooley’s disenchantment with his government’s attitude to aquaculture was echoed by the Chair of the New Zealand Oyster Council. Callum McCallum said he was envious of the support for aquaculture expressed at the conference by Australian Government Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz and his South Australian counterpart Rory McEwen - and of the combining of fisheries and conservation in Eric Abetz’s portfolio. “Ours are separate. And the conservation minister doesn’t like aquaculture,”
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Last Updated: March 28 2007 13:43:41
